The "Ideal Husband" of the title is Sir Robert Chiltern, with his equally upright wife Lady Chiltern. He has never committed a crime, never had a "past" and never bowed to corruption or influence, or so she thinks... The disreputable Mrs Cheveley is about to appear and try her hand at both politics and blackmail - can the Chilterns come through the encounter with both public and private honour intact? And what about Miss Mabel Chiltern's roguish beau, Lord Goring? What does he have to do with all of this?

Oscar Wilde's witty comedy of manners, trust and politics shows human nature in a typically merciless light. The main themes are blackmail, political corruption and the uses and abuses of power both in politics and in private life. Quote from the play: “It takes great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.” (Summary by Beth Thomas) <br><br>

Is there a deadline?
We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.

How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here
To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.

Please claim roles (the numbers in the first column below)! Please note: All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. When you submit your recording, you will be placing your recording in the public domain as well.

If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.

Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process (unless you are the BC or PL). Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!

Make sure you add this to the beginning of your recording:[Role], read by [your name].

If you are reading stage directions, please include for each file:At the beginning: Act [#] of An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit Librivox dot org.

At the end: End of Act [#]. At the end of Act 4 please also say "End of An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde. Recorded by Librivox volunteers in 2018."

Please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!

AFTER recordingSave files as 128 kbps MP3
idealhusband_[role]_[#].mp3 (all lower-case) where # is the act number.

Final files only: idealhusbandv2_[#]_wilde_128kb.mp3 (where # is the act number)

Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file. Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.

Until the MW appears (and even after), here is a quick summary of the parts, more or less in order of size. This is a comedy of manners and sexism, so gender matched claimants with roles please (unusually for me).

Please note "Mrs Cheveley" I would like pronounced in the English style "Cheeve-ly".

Lady Markby, a friend of the ChilternsThe Countess of Basildon, a friend of the ChilternsMrs. Marchmont, a friend of the Chilterns

Vicomte De Nanjac, Attaché at the French embassy in London (accent please, not necessarily French)Mr. Montford, secretary to Sir RobertMason, butler to Sir Robert ChilternPhipps, butler to Lord GoringJames, footman to the ChilternsHarold, footman to the Chilterns

Last edited by Elizabby on June 29th, 2018, 12:30 am, edited 3 times in total.

Thanks Sonia! Can I interest you in any of the upper class ladies' roles? They are all comic characters and I think you could carry them off to great effect!
(I'm about to break for dinner so I'll try to fill in the MW later tonight.)

MW is ready I'll check the roles later on, I'm sure there is something I'd like to do.

Something else: this has to be named Version 2 somehow in the title, as there is already an older version in the catalogue.

Doesn't that happen at cataloguing? The other version isn't currently on the server is it, so our files shouldn't be affected?
Only the final versions of the files will need v2 in them, I suppose...

yes, I didn't mean the file names, I meant the title. Nevermind, I guess we just have to remember it at cataloguing. But I think if you already put in (Version 2) after your title, this will be a good reminder.